Apparatus for continuous can printing



Dec. 5, 1967 T. ZURICK 3,356,019

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS CAN PRINTING Filed Feb. 9, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 STATION IMPRES|ON BLANKET COATING STATION INVENTOR ALBERT T- Z URICK M ATTORNEY Dec. 5, 1967 A. T. ZURlC-K' APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS C AN PRINTING 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 9, 1966 Q mo 588% INVENTOR A LBE R T T- Z U ATTORNEY Dec. 5, 1967 A. 'r. ZURICK APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS CAN PRINTING Filed Feb. 9, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 LL]. Ll uL. T

INVENTOR ALBERTT-ZU CK ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,356,019 APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS CAN PRINTING Albert T. Zurick, Aidan, Pa., assignor to Fredk H.

Levey Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 9, 1966, Ser. No. 526,267 15 Claims. (Cl. 101-39) pression to the exterior surfaces of the can bodies being printed. The can bodies are normally mounted on mandrels freely rotatable about their longitudinal axes. Each can body is rotated about the axis of its mandrel during the time in which contact is maintained between the can and the impression blanket.

Most can printing machines require intermittent movement of the rotatable, mandrel-holding carrier. That is, the carrier remains stationary during the actual printing operation. The capacity of such intermittently operated machines is necessarily limited and their efliciency is adversely affected.

In US. 2,936,701, a printing apparatus was proposed that would enable the rotatable carrier to be rotated continuously during the printing operation. The continuously rotated carrier has a plurality of arms mounted thereon. These arms are adapted for rocking movement about pivots parallel with the axis of rotation of the carrier. Each arm supports a can-holding mandrel, upon an extension of which a cam follower is carried. A spring is provided to maintain the arm in operative relation with the cam and to press the can to be printed against the impression blanket.

While this apparatus permits continuous rotation of the carrier, it has several undesirable features. First of all, the can-holding mandrel itself and the supporting arm must be pivoted through a relatively large arc in response to the movement of the cam follower. Also, the cam follower must be changed for each change in size of the can being printed, since the diameter of the can follower must be equal to the diameter of the can body to be carried by the mandrel. Furthermore, maintaining uniform printing pressure is diflicult since it requires that all cam followers must be of exactly the same diameter and all springs must be of equal pressure.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for printing the exterior surfaces of cylinders and can bodies.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for the continuous printing of said cylinders of can bodies.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus in which the adjustment of the printing pressure between the can and the impression member is facilitated.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved can printing apparatus in which cans of varying diameter can be accommodated without re quiring a change in the size of the cam follower employed.

These and other objects of the present invention are in which the motion of the cam follower is not transmitted directly to the can-holding mandrel sleeve, but

is transmitted through the pivotal center of the eccentric shaft. As more fully disclosed hereinafter, this arrangement causes a twisting pressure through the pivotal center resulting in printing pressure between the impression member and a can body mounted on the mandrel sleeve. This arrangement does not require spring means in order to maintain printing pressure between the can and the impression member. Also, since the motion of the cam follower is not directly transmitted to the can-holding mandrel sleeve, it is not necessary that the diameter of the cam follower be equal to that of the can being printed. The present invention thus provides a more efiicient and flexible apparatus than that heretofore available.

The invention shall hereinafter be more fully disclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial side elevation illustrating apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1 and illustrating a portion of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 of a part of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic illustrations of the positioning of the cam follower and the can-holding mandrel sleeve relative to the pivot point possible in accordance with the present invention.

In the drawings, eccentric shafts 1 are mounted in a plurality of openings around the periphery of support hub 5. Each eccentric shaft 1 comprises a support shaft portion 2 and a mandrel shaft portion 3 having a pivot center 4. Support shaft 2 of each eccentric shaft 1 is mounted in the openings in support hub 5 by means of support bushing 6. Rigidly mounted on the free end of each support shaft 2 is a link 7 extending radially therefrom. By means of opening 20, at the opposite or free end of link 7, cam follower 8 is mounted so as to engage cam 9, which controls the basic phasing of eccentric shaft 1. Thus cam follower 8 is not aligned axially with pivot center 4, and the cam follower and the can-holding mandrel shaft are not connected directly to each other on common centers.

As shown in FIGURE 2, a rotatable, anti-friction mounted mandrel sleeve 10 is mounted on mandrel shaft 3. To facilitate replacement in the event of wear, a replaceable outer sleeve 11, composed of a suitable wearing material such as plastic, is provided. Suitable bearings 12 are provided for rotation of mandrel sleeve 10 and its outer sleeve 11 about the mandrel shaft portion of eccentric shaft 1. A suitable end cap 13 is provided at the free end of mandrel shaft 3, and an end cap 14 is also provided at the free end of support shaft 2 to secure link 7 on support shaft 2.

Cans to be printed are mounted on mandrel shaft portion 3 by means of suitable transfer mechanisms, not shown, that serve to transfer the cans to be printed from storage or from some previous operation to the can-holding mandrel sleeve for movement through the printing cycle. In order to help retain the can on the mandrel sleeve, eccentric shaft 1 is provided with a conduit 16 through which a vacuum can be pulled to keep the can on the mandrel sleeve. Conversely, when it is desired to remove the can, air may be blown through conduit 16 to facilitate the removal of the can from the mandrel sleeve.

Printing is accomplished by the engagement of the can supported by mandrel shaft portion 3 with impression member 15. In the operation of the present invention, the impression member is rotatable continuously in one direction. Support hub 5 is rotated in timed relation with the movement of the impression-imparting surface of the impression member. Cam means 9 is positioned in operative relation with cam follower 8 and is adapted to constrain the axis of said cam follower to follow a path such as to cause the can-holding mandrel sleeve to follow a path concentric with the impression-imparting surface during engagement between said surface and the can body being printed. In FIGURE 1, a particular direction of rotation is indicated for the impression member, the support hub and the can being printed. It should be noted that it is within the scope of the present invention to reverse the direction of rotation of either the impression member or the support hub, or both, from that illustrated in FIGURE 1.

The motion transmitted to cam follower 8 by the cam profile during rotation of support hub 5 is transmitted to link 7. The resulting movement of link 7 causes rotation of support shaft portion 2 of eccentric shaft 1. As a result of this rotation, mandrel shaft portion 3 is moved in an arc or a circle about pivotal center 4 of support shaft 2. During the printing cycle, therefore, the motion transmitted to mandrel shaft 3 through pivot center 4 applies the necessary printing pressure to transfer the desired impression from impression member to the can being printed. The printing pressure can be set individually for each mandrel shaft by rotating support shaft portion 2, thus permitting mandrel shaft 3 to move in an arc about pivot center 4 to a position at which the desired printing pressure will be obtained during engagement of the can with impression member 15.

The nature of the cam means employed is not an essential feature of the present invention. Cam means 9 may comprise a box type, dual track cam, a continuous 360 cam surface, or a cam segment adapted to contact the cam follower during the period in which engagement is to be maintained between the impression-imparting surface and the can body being printed. If a box type, dual track cam is employed, cam follower 8 is confined to a defined path during the entire 360 printing cycle.

When other types of cam means are employed, it is generally desirable to provide means for retaining the cam follower in a predetermined position during the non-printing portion of the cycle. For example, if a continuous 360, non-box type, cam surface is employed, the printing pressure developed during engagement between the can and impression member 15 will be transmitted back through the pivot point of the eccentric shaft arrangement, urging cam follower 8 into engagement with cam 9. During the non-printing portion of the cycle, no such pressure is exerted on cam follower 8. In order to prevent the cam follower from slapping away from the cam during the non-printing portion of the cycle, it is desirable to provide a spring and rod mechanism to urge cam follower 8 to follow the cam profile while the can to be printed is out of contact with the impression member. The spring mechanism thus serves to maintain the cam follower and the mandrel shaft in the predetermined non-printing position.

Cam means 9 may also comprise simply a cam segment designed to contact the cam follower only during that portion of the printing cycle in which engagement is to be maintained between the impression-imparting surface and the can body. Such a cam segment may have any desired profile, e.g. a flat surface, consistent with the necessity for maintaining the can in engagement with the impression member during a complete revolution of the can being printed. In order to maintain the cam follower in some predetermined position during the non-printing portion of the cycle, it is again desirable to provide a spring and rod mechanism as indicated above. Since the cam profile is not a continuous 360 surface in this instance, a stop is provided so that the spring will urge the rod in engagement with the cam follower to some predetermined position determined by the location of the stop.

In FIGURE 1, spring rods 21 are affixed to link 7.

Under the urging of spring 22, spring rods 21 cause link 7 and its associated cam follower 8 to some predetermined position determined by the position of stop 23.

As previously indicated, the desired printing pressure may be set by rotating the supporting portion of the eccentric shaft so as to vary the position of mandrel shaft portion 3. As shown in FIGURE 3, an adjustable collar 17 may be mounted on and keyed to each support shaft portion 2 of the eccentric shaft. Clamping bolt 19 is provided to assure intimate locking between adjustable collar 17 and link 7. To adjust printing pressure, clamping bolt 19 may be loosened and set screws 18 adjusted causing adjustable collar 17 to turn so as to rotate eccentric shaft 1. In this manner, the desired printing pressure can be set independently for each can-holding mandrel sleeve.

In FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, the flexibility of design possible in the present invention is demonstrated. Each of these figures shows a different arrangement of the cam follower 8 and can 26 on mandrel shaft 3 relative to the pivot center 4 of eccentric shaft 1. It can be seen that during the period in which can 26 is in engagement with impression member 15, cam follower 8 is maintained in contact with cam means 9. Because of the twisting motion imparted by the eccentric shaft through pivot center 4, any movement of cam follower 8 away from cam means 9 would be resisted by the contact of can 26 with impression member 15. Thus, spring 22 need only be of suflicient strength to urge link 7 and cam follower 8 into a predetermined non-printing position during the period of the printing cycle when the can is not in engagement with the impression member. It can also be readily seen that, since motion is transmitted through the eccentric shaft mechanism and pivot center 4, it is not necessary that earn follower 8 have the same diameter as the can being printed. The present invention, therefore, permits the accommodation of cans of different sizes without requiring the replacement of the cam follower for each change in size of can being printed.

It is within the scope of the present invention to have an eccentricity of the eccentric shaft either greater, equal to or less than the length connecting the eccentric shaft with the cam follower. Since motion and pressure is transmitted through pivot center 4, the ratio of the printing pressure to the pressure urging the cam follower into contact with the cam will vary inversely with the ratio of the length of the link to the eccentricity of the shaft. It is generally preferred to employ a link of greater length than the eccentricity so as to avoid exerting too much pressure between the cam and the cam follower.

It is generally desirable to provide means for moving the mandrel shaft to a non-printing position in the event said mandrel shaft is not loaded with a can to be printed or if a damaged can not fitting properly on the mandrel sleeve is so loaded. One means for accomplishing this result is illustrated in FIGURE 1 providing means for moving cam means 9 to a non-operative position at the proper time to avoid contact of the mandrel sleeve and the impression member. For this purpose, a solenoidoperated air cylinder 25 of conventional design is provided. This cylinder has a push rod 26 attached to cam means 9 by means of pin 27. Air cylinder 25 is operated in response to the detection of the absence of a can or the presence of a defective can on the mandrel sleeve. For this purpose, any commercially available step-up type logic system, such as that marketed by Square D Company, may be employed. As shown in FIGURE 1, standard metal or metallic sensing devices 28 may be employed to detect either the absence of a can or the presence of a defective can on any partcular mandrel sleeve. The signal from sensors 28 is transmitted to solenoid 29 that serves to operate the air cylinder, causing push rod 26 to pivot cam means 9 to a non-printing position. As shown, more than one sensing device is normally employed in sequence in order to accurately coordinate the operation of the apparatus so that the cam means is moved to a non-operative position in proper sequence with the position of the mandrel for which printing is to be avoided in the printing zone.

Another means for accomplishing this result would be to provide an impression member having movable impression segments. Each segment would be independently movable so that the particular impression segment that would contact a can on a particular mandrel sleeve could be moved back to a non-operative position in the event no can or a defective can were detected on a particular mandrel sleeve. The absence of a can or the presence of a defective can on a particular mandrel sleeve and the relative positioning of that mandrel sleeve is detected and determined by means of a logic system as previously indicated employing suitable metallic sensing devices. In response to a signal from the logic system and in proper timed sequence, a solenoid-operated air cylinder is operated so as to move a suitable cam member into an operative position so as to cause or allow the desired blanket segment to move toward the center of the impression member causing a gap in the impression surface so that contact between the impression member and the mandrel sleeve or defective can is to be avoided.

The present invention has been described with regard to printing on the exterior surfaces of pre-formed can bodies. The invention is also applicable in those instances where it is desired merely to apply a suitable coating material to a can previously printed, either before or after it has been formed into its desired cylindrical shape. Likewise, the invention is also applicable to those instances in which it is desired to both print a pre-formed can body and to thereafter apply a protective coating thereto. FIGURE 1 illustrates an apparatus having separate printing and coating cam segments. The coating cam segment serves to cause the cam follower to follow a path such as to the can-holding mandrel sleeve to follow a path concentric with the surface of a suitable coating member during the period of time in which the can to be coated is in contact with the coating member. In the same manner as indicated with respect to the printing cam segment, the coating cam segment can be pivoted to an inoperative position in response to the detection of the absence of a can to be printed or the presence of a defective can not properly aligned with the mandrel sleeve. For this purpose, a suitable push rod may be connected to the coating cam segment so as to pivot the cam segment to an inoperative position in response to a signal from the sensing devices, in the manner indicated above.

While this invention has been disclosed with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for printing on the exterior of can bodies in which said bodies move into a printing position during a printing period and out of said position during a nonprinting period, and comprising:

(a) an impression member, the impression-imparting surface of which is rotatable continuously in one direction;

(b) a support hub rotatable in timed relation with the movement of the impression-imparting surface of said impression member, said hub having a plurality of openings positioned around its periphery;

(c) a shaft rotatably mounted in each opening in said support hub for rotation about an axis parallel with the axis of rotation of said support hub, said shaft having an eccentric portion attached thereon;

(d) a mandrel sleeve rotatably mounted on the eccentric portion of said shaft, said mandrel sleeve being adapted to receive a can body, the exterior surface of which is to be printed;

(e) a link rigidly connected to the eccentric portion of said shaft mounted on said support hub and extending radially therefrom;

(f) a cam follower carried by the free end of said link;

(g) cam means positioned in operative relation with said cam follower and adapted to constrain the axis of said cam follower to follow a path parallel with the impression-imparting surface during the printing period wherein engagement is made between said surface and the can body carried by said can-receiving mandrel sleeve,

whereby, the motion of the cam follower is transmitted to said link causing rotation of the portion of said shaft mounted on said support hub thereby causing the eccentric portion of the shaft to move in an are about the pivotal center of said shaft causing printing pressure between the impression member and a can body mounted on the mandrel sleeve during engagement between the impression-imparting surface and the can body.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the cam means is a box type, dual track cam.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the cam means comprises a continuous 360 cam surface.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 and including, for each shaft, spring means for maintaining the cam follower in operative relation with said cam during the non-printing period in which the can body is out of contact with the impression-imparting surface.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the cam means comprises a cam segment adapted to contact said cam follower during the printing period in which engagement is to be maintained between the impression-imparting surface and the can body.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which spring means are provided for maintaining the cam follower in a predetermined position during the non-printing period in which the can body is not in contact with the impression-imparting surface.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 and including a stop positioned with respect to said spring means so as to maintain the cam follower in a predetermined position during the non-printing period in which the cam follower is not in contact with the cam.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 and including an adjustable collar mounted on each of said shafts, each of said adjustable collars having rotatably mounted thereon said link extending radially from the shaft, whereby the position of each of said can-receiving mandrel sleeves can be independently adjusted, by means of their eccentricity, to set the desired printing pressure between the can to be printed and said impression blanket.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 and including conduit means in the eccentric portion of said shaft for supplying air to the end of the can-holding mandrel sleeve for blowing a can off said mandrel sleeve and for pulling a vacuum to pull a can on and maintain a can on said mandrel sleeve.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 and including a coating member, said cam means comprising two separately movable segments, a printing segment adapted to constrain the axis of the cam follower to follow a path such as to cause the can-holding mandrel sleeve to follow a path concentric with the impression-imparting surface during engagement between said can body and said impressionimparting surface and a coating segment adapted to constrain the axis of the cam follower to follow a path parallel with the surface of the coating member during engagement between the can body and said coating member.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 and including sensing means for detecting the absence of a can in proper printing position on a mandrel sleeve.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 and including means for moving the printing segment of said cam means to a non-printing position in response to the detection of the absence of a can in proper printing position on said mandrel sleeve.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 and including means for sence of a can in proper coating position on a mandrel sleeve.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 and including sensing means for detecting the absence of a can in proper printing position on a mandrel sleeve. 1

15. The apparatus of claim 14 and including means for moving the cam means to a non-printing position in response to the detection of the absence of a can to be printed or the presence of a defective can on any particular mandrel sleeve, said cam means being movable in proper timed sequence so as to avoid contact of said impression member with the mandrel sleeve or a defective can positioned thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Schutz et al, 101-40 McElwain 101-407 Babicz 101-247 Brigham 101247 Parrish 101-174 Stuchbery 10140 Hartmeister 10140 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primaly Examiner.

H. DINITZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ON THE EXTERIOR OF CAN BODIES IN WHICH SAID BODIES MOVE INTO A PRINTING POSITION DURING A PRINTING PERIOD AND OUT OF SAID POSITION DURING A NONPRINTING PERIOD, AND COMPRISING: (A) AN IMPRESSION MEMBER, THE IMPRESSION-IMPARTING SURFACE OF WHICH IS ROTATABLE CONTINUOUSLY IN ONE DIRECTION; (B) A SUPPORT HUB ROTATABLE IN TIMED RELATION WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THE IMPRESSION-IMPARTING SURFACE OF SAID IMPRESSION MEMBER, SAID HUB HAVING A PLURALITY OF OPENINGS POSITIONED AROUND ITS PERIPHERY; (C) A SHAFT ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN EACH OPENING IN SAID SUPPORT HUB FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL WITH THE AXIS OF ROTATION OF SAID SUPPORT HUB, SAID SHAFT HAVING AN ECCENTRIC PORTION ATTACHED THEREON; (D) A MANDREL SLEEVE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE ECCENTRIC PORTION OF SAID SHAFT, SAID MANDREL SLEEVE BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A CAN BODY, THE EXTERIOR SURFACE OF WHICH IS TO BE PRINTED; (E) A LINK RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO THE ECCENTRIC PORTION OF SAID SHAFT MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT HUB AND EXTENDING RADIALLY THEREFROM; (F) A CAM FOLLOWER CARRIED BY THE FREE END OF SAID LINK; (G) CAM MEANS POSITIONED IN OPERATIVE RELATION WITH SAID CAM FOLLOWER AND ADAPTED TO CONSTRAIN THE AXIS OF SAID CAM FOLLOWER TO FOLLOW A PATH PARALLEL WITH THE IMPRESSION-IMPARTING SURFACE DURING THE PRINTING PERIOD WHEREIN ENGAGEMENT IS MADE BETWEEN SAID SURFACE AND THE CAN BODY CARRIED BY SAID CAN-RECEIVING MANDREL SLEEVE, WHEREBY, THE MOTION OF THE CAM FOLLOWER IS TRANSMITTED TO SAID LINK CAUSING ROTATION OF THE PORTION OF SAID SHAFT MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT HUB THEREBY CAUSING THE ECCENTRIC PORTION OF THE SHAFT TO MOVE IN AN ARC ABOUT THE PIVOTAL CENTER OF SAID SHAFT CAUSING PRINTING PRESSURE BETWEEN THE IMPRESSION MEMBER AND A CAN BODY MOUNTED ON THE MANDREL SLEEVE DURING ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE IMPRESSION-IMPARTING SURFACE AND THE CAN BODY. 